Curse of the Pink Panther (1983)

August 13, 1983

'THE CURSE OF THE PINK PANTHER'

By Janet Maslin

Published: August 13, 1983

To say that Blake Edwards's ''Curse of the Pink Panther'' is aimed at easy-to-please audiences is to understate the case considerably. It's aimed at those who'll be satisifed with another snappy credit sequence, a few of the old familiar faces, and very little more.

Not unfunny, and not really an offense to the memory of Inspector Clouseau, it's merely a movie with very little reason to exist. Only occasionally does it turn ghoulish, as when Detective Sgt. Clifton Sleigh (Ted Wass) wanders into a wax museum filled with likenesses of the late Peter Sellers, and pinches the cheek of one of them.

Detective Sleigh has been located by the by-now-venerable Dreyfus, to investigate the disappearance of Dreyfus's nemesis, Clouseau. The search for the world's greatest detective is being conducted by computer, and Dreyfus - who of course doesn't want Clouseau found at all - has secretly reprogrammed the machine to find the world's worst detective.

Apparently, he succeeds, for once Sleigh is recruited from the New York City Police Department, he proves to be every bit as comically accident-prone as the man he's looking for. Mr. Wass's humor is mostly physical. He stumbles even more frequently than his predecessor did, and subjects Herbert Lom's Dreyfus to a lot of the usual abuse. These physical gags look as though they'd have worked a lot better for Mr. Sellers. But Mr. Wass makes adequate use of them, too.

Robert Wagner, Capucine, Harvey Korman, Bert Kwouk and the late David Niven make what are in effect longish cameo appearances, as Sleigh revisits the scenes of Clouseau's various exploits. Also in the large cast, inexplicably, is Patricia Davis, President Reagan's daughter, playing a French newscaster. Not even those undiscriminating enough to find this ''Pink Panther'' film as charming as any of the others will imagine that this newscaster's French accent is genuine.

''The Curse of the Pink Panther'' is rated PG (''Parental Guidance Suggested''). Its humor is a little bawdier than that of other films in this series.

The Cast
CURSE OF THE PINK PANTHER, directed by Blake Edwards; Written by Blake Edwards and Geoffrey Edwards; director of photography, Dick Bush; edited by Ralph E. Winters; music by Henry Mancini; produced by Blake Edwards and Tony Adams; released by M-G-M/UA Entertainment Company. At the Embassy, Broadway and 72d Street; 72d Street Playhouse, east of Second Avenue, and other theaters. Running time: 110 minutes. This film is rated PG.